Cathedral tops St. Joseph for first Girls Tennis Crown in 30 Years
Strong singles play carried Indianapolis Cathedral all the way through the season and ended up being the winning recipe again as the Irish carried home their first big trophy in 30 years.

After the third-ranked Irish (21-1) toppled No. 2 and three-time defending champion Carmel, 3-2, in Friday's state quarterfinal round (their second win over the Greyhounds this season), Cathedral edged No. 8 Terre Haute South in the semis and No. 4 South Bend St. Joseph in the championship by the same 3-2 score. It was the first state championship for Cathedral coach Mark Noe who had also guided the Irish to the 2012 title match.

Saturday's matches had to be moved indoors to Indianapolis Racquet Club - Dean thanks to a storm system that slowly moved its way through the area.

The sisters come from good tennis stock as father Paul Koscielski was a three-time singles state champion from South Bend Adams in 1982, 1983 and 1984, while mother Amy (Boyle) was a member of Cathedral's last girls state championship team in 1986.

St. Joseph's (19-3) took both doubles matches in the championship with Talle Corrigan and Ceci Pekarek taking out Meghan Farrell and Rachel Long at No. 1, 6-2, 6-4. Corrigan and Pekarek stayed unbeaten in the post-season and will feed into next weekend's doubles state finals. In the No. 2 match, Mary Lyon and Nicole Pascual teamed to down Kristin Caldwell and KK Combs, 6-0, 6-4. The Indians were coached by Bill Mountford, who previously had led St. Joe to the 2010 state championship.

Carmel's Lauryn Padgett named Mental Attitude Award winner
Lauryn Padgett of Carmel High School was selected as the winner of the Mental Attitude Award following the championship match by the IHSAA Executive Committee.

Padgett played No. 1 singles for the Greyhounds this season and finished 9-3 while helping the team to an eighth consecutive state finals appearance. She was part of three state championship teams in 2013, 2014 and 2015. Academically, she maintained a 4.23 GPA while taking honors and advanced placement classes before graduating earlier this month.

She is the daughter of William and Libby Padgett of Carmel and plans to study Occupational Therapy at the University of Dayton where she will also be a member of the school's tennis team.

Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance presented $1,000 to the general scholarship fund at Carmel High School in the name of Lauryn Padgett.